Articles Posted inInspiration

The role of a Sacramento personal injury lawyer is to help people in the Sacramento area recover compensation from the guilty party or parties when they come across an accident. A qualified and experienced personal injury lawyer can be of great help to people who urge to recover compensation for the injury they sustained due to another person’s fault. Lawyers, for the most part, charge their clients based on the complexity of the case. Some lawyers even take part of the amount received as compensation. However, you do not need to pay anything to the lawyer during your first meeting with them.

Most of personal injury lawyers, as mentioned earlier, require payment once you have received compensation from the defendant(s). In other words, they sign an agreement with you. According to that agreement, you will be bound to pay your lawyer an agreed percentage of the amount of compensation recovered from the other party. If you do not win the case, you will not pay anything to your lawyer. As a client, you need to understand the difference between the cost and fees of a personal injury lawyer. The fee and the cost are two different things.

You should not hesitate to hire a lawyer if you have an accident and need to get immediate financial support. Moreover, they know well how to file a complaint in the best way possible with an objective to recover compensation their clients deserve. Most of these lawyers can easily handle cases associated with health care, van/bus accidents, and many other cases.

After leaving your home, social event or office, you get into a car and head to another destination. You have no idea what might happen to you that day. You try your best to drive safely in order to prevent an accident but there are conditions contradicting the smooth driving that you have experienced to date. Roads become smooth and slippery due to bad weather; therefore, drivers are strictly advised to drive at slower speed and be extra careful when the weather is bad.

At times, a bulky truck loaded with construction material or tree trunks may lose control and collide with other vehicles. Therefore, drivers are advised to avoid tailing trucks in all conditions.

Aside from the above-mentioned factors, there are many causes that may lead to an auto accident. For example, accidents happen when drivers fall asleep or when they are drunk.

This amazing Device called the ReWalk is allowing a 41 year old man, Radi Kaiof, take his first steps since 1988, when he was paralyzed in a military accident. The man who created the device, Amit Goffer, describes his machine a mix between the exoskeleton of a crustacean and the suit worn by comic hero Iron Man. The ReWalk helps paraplegics to stand, walk and climb stairs. Goffer himself was paralyzed in an accident in 1997 but he cannot use his own invention because he does not have full function of his arms.

On September 4, 2006, Australian doctor, Verena Doolabh, was shot in her spine while traveling in Jordan. The culprit was a gunman who opened fire on the tourist group Doolabh was traveling with. On March 10, 2008, Doolabh shared her story with the Australian newspaper, The Daily Liberal:

“Being a doctor the first thing that went through my head when I was shot was ‘I’m going to be in a wheelchair’,”

Unfortunately, her intuition was right. Doolabh was immediately paralyzed from the waist down. An immediate surgery to remove the bullet plus six months of intensive therapy, however, set her upon her feet again. Recalling her recovery, Doolabh said:

Seven year old Alexis Goggins is soft spoken and shy. One might not expect the young girl with a learning disability to be very courageous, much less a hero, but that is exactly what she is.

In Detroit, Michigan, a far cry from Sacramento, Alexis and her mother, Seliethia Parker, were taken hostage by Parker’s ex-boyfriend in their home town. Calvin Tillie, the ex-boyfriend, jumped into a car containing Alexis, Parker and a friend and forced the friend to drive at gun point. The friend pulled into a gas station and, leaving the car under the premise of needing gas, called 911. Inside the car, the drama unfolded. The Associated Press reports:

…Parker pleaded with the gunman not to shoot. As he was about to open fire, Alexis cried, “Don’t hurt my mother!” and jumped into her mother’s arms from the back seat.

In our own home town of Sacramento, pets are being used to heal sick children. Yes, you heard me right. At Shriners Hospital for Children – Northern California, volunteers bring in pets for the children to play with or just be around. The children seem to greatly benefit from the pets. Take for example, Rachael Wilson, a patient who suffered a spinal cord injury at age 12, who says she feels like the pets give her a sense of freedom she did not have before. Another patient, 15-year old Austin Lee, has been in a wheelchair since he was hit by a truck some time back. He says that he loves having the pets visit and that they remind him of his own pets back home.

The hospital serves as a place children go after severe accidents as well as a place for ongoing treatments and surgeries. The animals take some of the tension out the ordeals the children are subject to go through.

Other studies show that pet therapy does in fact, seem to aid those who face a terminal or life-altering illness. These animals can offer a constant source of comfort, a feeling of unconditional love, and an attentional focus. For example, one study was conducted on patients who were in the intensive care unit for heart attack or angina. One year after the hospitalization, 28% of patients who did not have a pet died, compared to 6% of deaths in patients who did own a pet.

Brain injuries can be devastating because of the sudden and lasting effects it has on one’s life. In many cases, the victim will lose the ability to perform as they once could, to the extent of falling into a vegetative state or even death. As a Personal Injury Attorney in Sacramento, California, I have seen the difficulty that people face when coping with a brain injury after an accident. Although these situations often seem bleak, there is always hope.

I read an article today about a man named Saul Raisin. Saul, a world-class bicyclist, was injured when he was preparing to compete in a bicycling competition in Italy. The young 24-year old’s life was suddenly turned upside down. Falling off of his bike, Saul suffered a traumatic brain injury and fell into a coma within a day. Waking from his coma, Saul found himself paralyzed on the left side of his body and was told he would never walk again. As for his dream of cycling, that was completely out of the question.

Incredibly, about a year and a half later, Saul finds himself not only walking, but back in cycling competition. This month, he even completed his first race since the accident, and although he came in last place, he sees himself as a winner.

I read an incredible story today about a California Highway Patrol Officer from our Sacramento area. The man, Mike Remmel, was severely injured about 2 years ago when a elderly woman ran him over with her car. At the time of the accident, Mike was directing traffic for another car crash. The elderly woman misunderstood where Mike was directing her and ran into him instead!

Waking up in the hospital, Mike found both of his legs amputated, one above the ankle, the other above the knee. The CHP officer of 19 years decided that he was not going to give up on his chance of living a normal life, including doing the job he knew and loved. He began a slow and painful recovery. He pushed himself to walk, then to run, and continued to press towards the goal of once again being a CHP officer.

A year after the accident, he returned to work doing a limited desk job. To be a patrolman once again, he would have to complete 14 rigorous fitness tests which included; sidestepping, running 500 yards in 2 minutes, and sprinting 100 yards in 20 seconds.

Sitting in my office in Sacramento, California, I have read time and again about the staggering amount of brain injuries that are suffered by our troops abroad. As a Personal Injury Lawyer, I know that a traumatic brain injury can be not only devastating but unfortunately, many brain injuries go without detection and medical help. And the consequences can be devastating for an entire family.

Promising news awaits, however. As I was reading through the news today, I saw an article regarding the Army and a new campaign they are using to heighten awareness in soldiers about traumatic brain injuries. The campaign is designed to teach 1 million soldiers about the injury and how to recognize the symptoms of it in order to get immediate medical help, which can be fundamental to avoid later complications.

I am encouraged by this news, as I know that many of these injuries are “invisible” and may not be taken care of until a later, and more detrimental, date. We all, soldiers and non-soldiers alike, need to be aware of how a brain injury is caused and what the symptoms are of it. If we could recognize it, we could help more lives who have been affected by tthis condition.

I’m sure you have seen the articles throughout the news lately about the man who has recently regained some abilities after being in a six-year coma-like state brought on by suffering from a severe brain injury. This is an incredible breakthrough in the area of brain injury. It was past thought that someone in a minimally conscious state for so many years was untreatable. Now, with these new findings, we know that the possibility looms of some recovery even after years of living in such a condition. It’s almost miraculous.

To stimulate activity, doctors implanted tiny electrodes into the man’s brain which attached to a pacemaker-like a device inside his chest. Within hours of the implantation, the man opened his eyes and tracked people moving throughout the room. Now, a year later, he has continued to progress. Reports state he can drink from a cup, comb his hair, and even speak in short sentences, all by himself.

Researchers do say that this type of treatment is not going to be for everyone, at least at the stage research is at the moment, because certain brain connections must have remained intact for the device to work. It’s necessary to assess a person’s brain to know if the treatment is viable. This, however, is none less a breakthrough of extraordinary proportion. It may mean a significant boost to the quality of life of many brain injury victims and their families.